Business, politics and lifestyle.
The man with the golden corkscrew Michael Olivier introduces an elegant red to another rowdy rabble. It is the Felicite Pinot Noir 2013.
John Fraser heads the panel in Johannesburg with Corlien Morris from Wine Concepts, Gumtree Auto’s Jeff Osborne and Malcolm MacDonald.
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The ever-inventive Michael Olivier unearths two ciders for this week’s podcast tasting and astounds us all with how good they are.
The pair are Cluver and Jack from Elgin, and Ireland’s Orpens.
John Fraser is joined in the Johannesburg studio with sippers Jeff Osborne from Gumtree and IT genius Malcolm MacDonald.
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What fun. This week our sucker for pleasure guru Michael Olivier talks us through a new product on the SA market – the Scottish Leader Signature Whisky.
Dram-atic comment from our tasting trio of restaurateur Dino Fagas, branding superstar Jeremy Sampson and the people’s economist Mike Schussler.
Malcolm MacDonald supplied the technical expertise, between glugs from the bottle.
As any follower of this newsletter and the weekly Die Vine Intervention podcast wine tastings I carry out with the remarkable Michael Olivier will know, I love South Africa and I love the wines and other booze delights that this country produces.
So I welcome every platform on which wine can be discussed and promoted. Michael and I pioneered live wine tastings on Classic fm, and a good fun time was normally had by all. These tastings became more serious, with a greater focus on winemakers and less scope for fun, but we have moved on and preserved the spirit (s?) of our booze bashes in Die Vine Intervention.
Classic Wine the broadcast gave birth to Classic Wine the magazine, and extended the scope for discussion, analysis, good writing and comparative tastings. I never wrote for Classic Wine, but I welcomed it as a replacement for Wine magazine, which had ceased to be printed.
I was annoyed and upset when I learnt that Classic Wine magazine will be no more, but do not have the insider-knowledge to discuss why this decision had to be taken.
The local wine industry has too many enemies and far too few friends – being at the mercy of land-grabbing, taxing and nannyish politicians who are clearly jealous of an industry which brings so much joy and stimulation to so many, here and abroad. The winemakers crush the grapes while the politicians crush the winemakers.
If threatened booze advertising bans, and absurdly over-zealous drink-driving bans, have forced the closure of this magazine, which must have relied on advertising to turn a profit, then that is outrageous.
Of course, online publishing and podcasts will continue, and I plan to keep up with our podcasts, and to comment on lifestyle issues on ZA Confidential.
I will also support each and every effort to unite the industry and give it a more forceful voice. Heaven knows, the resources should be there for this, given the number of billionaires living in the Winelands and producing their own wines.
We may have lost one battle with the closure of Classic Wine mag. But the war is far from over.
Tweets of the Day
Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow): Happy #NationalWeatherPersonDay! My excitement is in the high seventies.
Funny Tweets (@Funny_TweetsQ): Reasons why I’m fat: 1) I eat when I’m bored. 2) I’m bored all the time.
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In this week’s wine tasting podcast, top marks are given to a stunner from the Cape – the Baleia Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2014.
Food and wine fanatic Michael Olivier leads the tasting while John Fraser is joined in the Johannesburg studio by branding expert and wine writer Jeremy Sampson, award winning economist Mike Schussler and Dino Fagas of Pretoria’s Prosopa restaurant.
There is also a chilled discussion about the temperature at which wines should be served.
Technical brilliance as usual from the gifted Malcolm MacDonald.
Brilliant booze hound Michael Olivier has crawled around the breweries to discover 2 great beers, which he presents on our latest podcast. They are Savage Pale Ale and Leopold7.
John Fraser is on bar duty in the Johannesburg studio, where is is joined by Pretoria restaurateur Dino Fagas of Prosopa, Branding supremo Jeremy Sampson and top economist Mike Schussler.
Malcolm MacDonald provided studio facilities and technical support.
Michael Olivier showcases a delicious sweet wine – the Badsberg Noble Late Harvest of 2009.
John Fraser is joined for the tasting in the Jo’burg studio by three sweet guests: Debi van Flymen of Wine Cellar, KWV’s Jolize van Wyk Fourie and Absa’s Chris Gilmour.
Award-wining food and wine guru Michael Olivier presents a multi award winning South Africa Port – the KWV Cape Tawny – for our latest boozy podcast.
John Fraser is once again joined for the tasting in the Jo’burg studio by Debi van Flymen of Wine Cellar, KWV’s Jolize van Wyk Fourie and Absa’s Chris Gilmour.
Passionate food and wine guru Michael Olivier also shows his skill in selecting and introducing fine beer, when he presents two gems from the League of Beers.
They are the Garagista from Cape Town and Belgium’s Vedett.
John Fraser is joined for the tasting in the Jo’burg studio by Debi van Flymen of Wine Cellar, KWV’s Jolize van Wyk Fourie and Absa’s Chris Gilmour.
Wine expert Michael Olivier presents a Spanish white, the Viña Sol from Torres, to a panel of independent tasters.
John Fraser is joined for the tasting in the Jo’burg studio by Debi van Flymen of Wine Cellar, KWV’s Jolize van Wyk Fourie and Absa’s Chris Gilmour.
The panel also discusses the pros and cons of closing wine bottles with screw caps rather than corks.
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